Caballo Security Box Set

by Camilla Blake

  “Two years, huh? Isn’t that about the requirement the INS set forth? You’ll be free to divorce come Thanksgiving.”

  “If we’d only married for the sake of the INS rules.”

  “Did you?”

  I slid my phone back into my pocket and ran my hands over my thighs. “That’s between my wife and I, isn’t it?”

  “Could be a motive for murder if a man married a woman for her money and she hadn’t inherited it by the time he was ready for a divorce.”

  “You think I made Aurora disappear so that I could get her money in a divorce settlement? Isn’t that a little complicated? The woman’s eighty years old! I could have stayed married a few months longer and been in the same position without committing a felony that would send me home anyway.”

  “Yes, but if it was just a marriage of convenience…?”

  “Have you seen my wife? Have you spoken to her? Do you really think that woman would marry a guy like me just for a green card?”

  I saw doubt dance in the detective’s eyes, wondering if he was doubting my words, or if he was doubting his own assertion. He changed the subject then, making me think he’d never been serious about pursuing that particular theory.

  “How well do you know the people in this house?”

  “Other than my wife? Not well. We just met.”

  “If someone were to do something to hurt the old woman, who would you think was capable of it?”

  That was a good question. I’d been mulling that same thought over in my mind since I opened Cheryl’s email. The truth was, I didn’t like Zander. He struck me as someone who was capable of just about anything. But my feelings for him could be personal since he’d made it clear from the minute we’d walked through the door that he’d thought of Skylar as his possession and he didn’t appreciate me moving in on his territory.

  “Nolan,” I said. “He’s her caregiver. He’s the one who has the most access to her.”

  “The boy with the earbuds? You think someone like that is capable of this sort of thing?”

  I shrugged. “You asked.”

  “You were here during the party. Did you see anything unusual?”

  “All I can tell you is that Aurora George was on her deathbed when we arrived three days ago. She was clearly lethargic, clearly struggling just to stay awake enough for Skylar to speak to her. And then, out of the blue, she was suddenly bright and energetic and a totally different person.”

  “When did this happen?”

  “Yesterday.”

  “Did this caretaker have an explanation?”

  “Like you implied, that boy is pretty much useless. I’m not sure why she hired him.”

  “Did anyone else seem to think it was unusual?”

  “No one reacted the way Skylar did. And Skylar didn’t ask too many questions because she was thrilled to have her great-gran back. But I think it’s something that should be looked into.”

  The detective nodded. “Why don’t you go get your wife and ask her to come in here? I’d like to speak to her next.”

  “Yes, sir.” I stood. “Just… she’s pretty rattled already after what happened this morning. Could you be gentle with her?”

  “I’m just doing my job.”

  “And she just saw her first dead body and now her great-gran is missing.”

  The detective studied me hard for a moment, giving me a look Ox had given me in the past. Then he lowered his head, his expression growing a little softer for a moment, like he was thinking of his own Skylar.

  “I will do the best I can.”

  Someone had given Skylar a cup of coffee. I took it from her hands and helped her to her feet, aware of everyone watching us. I half expected someone to stop us, but they didn’t. Halfway to the study, I stopped and pushed her against the wall.

  “Listen to me. No matter what he says in there, don’t let it frighten you, okay? I’m going to find your great-gran and I’m going to make this right for you.”

  “Prescott—”

  “If you ever trusted me, trust me now. Okay?”

  I didn’t wait for her response because, to be honest, I didn’t know what it would be. I pulled her forward and pushed her toward the study door, taking root in the center of the corridor to watch her go. She looked back once, the stress of the day showing heavy on her face.

  I was going to make this right for her if it was the last thing I ever did.

  Chapter 15

  Skylar

  Answering questions while my great-gran was missing was a freaking waste of time! I couldn’t believe that was all the police wanted to do. I knew questions were important, but wasn’t it more important to go out looking for her rather than acting as though she was already dead?

  “We should organize a search party,” I announced to no one in particular, jumping to my feet after sitting far too long, waiting patiently too long for the cops to finish interrogating these people who were the closest thing my great-gran had to family anymore. “We need to get out there and find her!”

  Johnny was immediately on his feet, too. “I’ll call some people, see what I can do.”

  And just like that, we were getting organized, doing what the cops should have done but didn’t.

  I rode to the diner with Zander since Prescott was helping the cops with something—he didn’t really explain. I stared out the window, watching the landscape pass with some thought that I might see something that would tell me where Great-Gran was.

  “We’ll find her.”

  “I hope so. She can’t possibly survive on her own for too long no matter how fit she is right now.”

  “She wouldn’t have left if she didn’t think she could handle it. This will probably turn out to be a huge misunderstanding.”

  I nodded, but didn’t really believe it was true. It wasn’t like Great-Grant to run out like this. She never went anywhere without Johnny. He was her constant companion, not just her chauffeur, but her advisor and friend. They’d been together for so long that I couldn’t remember a time when they weren’t visiting neighbors together, weren’t discussing the garden together, weren’t doing just about everything together. The fact that Johnny didn’t know where she was scared the hell out of me.

  The diner was full of local people who’d all come out to participate in the search. I forced myself to stop and talk to each one, anxious to get out looking, but taking the time because it was what my great-gran would have wanted me to do.

  “Where’s your gorgeous husband, Skylar?” Miranda wanted to know. “Did he run back to Texas? Things get tough and he disappeared? Or maybe you threw up on his shoes and he had to go get them cleaned!”

  I attempted to ignore her, walking around her to greet some newcomers.

  “Come on, Skylar. Where’s that lovely man you clearly didn’t snag all by yourself? He’s too perfect for you.”

  I nodded, turning to face her. “He is. He’s smart and capable and incredibly handsome. Far too good for me.”

  “Is that why he’s not here? Because he finally wised up and figured out you’re not going to inherit your great-grandmother’s money? Did he finally realize he married you for absolutely nothing?”

  “Miranda…”

  Zander moved up beside her and took her arm, pulling her back just slightly, whispering something in her ear.

  “No,” Miranda said, “I won’t be quiet. Everyone in this town knows that this little girl has gotten everything she’s ever wanted just because her father knocked up some money-grubbing bitch! Just because of who her father is—and I’m sure half the town doesn’t believe he was her father since her mother slept with every guy who ever crossed her path—she gets everything handed to her on a silver platter while the rest of us continue to work like slaves to keep the George family in the style they’ve grown accustomed to!”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

  “I don’t?” Miranda pulled away from Zander and pointed a finger directly in my face. “You’re
the one who doesn’t know shit! Do you know that Hannah was engaged to marry your father before that slut of a mother of yours smiled in his direction? Did you know that the money that you thought was going to fall into your lap never really belonged to you? This town helped build the George fortune on our backs, working the quarry, giving up family land for their greedy developers, cleaning up after that woman’s fancy parties? This town deserves a piece of that pie!”

  “My great-gran employs eighty percent of the people in this town and she’s donated generously to every charity that has ever benefited anyone in this town.” I tilted my head slightly. “As I recall, she set up the scholarship that allowed your brother to go to college.”

  “Yeah, and he never looked back, never came home.”

  “That’s not her fault.”

  “It’s probably yours. Who wants to come back to the place where some princess made an absolute fool out of him?”

  “So, what is it, Miranda? Is my great-gran stealing from you, or allowing those who work hard enough to escape? You can’t have it both ways.”

  “It’s not your great-grandmother that I have a problem with. It’s you. It’s you walking in here and taking everything when you’ve never put in two seconds of work in this town. You didn’t grow up here, you didn’t watch your parents work themselves to death here, you didn’t have to hear the stories and see the evidence, and you aren’t stuck working in this sorry diner because you couldn’t get the grades that others did!”

  I lowered my head slightly. “You’re right. I’m not a part of this community.”

  “Yet, you get everything!”

  “It doesn’t change the fact that my great-gran is missing, or that we need to organize a search to find her. That is why we’re here, isn’t it?”

  Miranda glared at me, my calm tone just making her angrier than she had been. “You and your fucking holier-than-thou attitude! God, I’m so glad that this is the end of the road for you. You just wait until they find her body and read that will to you! That’ll be a real shocker.”

  “Miranda!” Zander cried, jerking her back.

  My heart shuddered and dropped to my feet. What did she mean, find her body? Did she know something? Was my great-gran already… I couldn’t even let myself think the word.

  “Do you know where she is?”

  Miranda was finally quiet, the look on her face announcing that she knew she’d gone too far. Everyone else in the crowded diner had grown quiet, almost everyone staring at the two of us. I stepped forward, reached for her but missed as Zander pulled her back.

  “If you know where she is, you have to tell us! We have to find her and bring her home!”

  “Go to hell!”

  “Miranda, please—no matter what you think of me, can’t you see that my great-gran doesn’t deserve this? She’s an old woman who’s done her best to care for the people of this town!” I stepped toward her again. “Please, if you know—”

  “She doesn’t know anything,” Zander announced. “She was just blowing off a little steam, saying things she didn’t mean. You know how it is.”

  But even Zander didn’t seem to believe it. He was looking down at her with this look on his face that was a combination of anger and surprise. And affection. When had Zander and Miranda…?

  “Let’s go.” Prescott, appearing almost out of nowhere, came up behind me and took hold of my shoulders. “He’s right. She’s just spouting nonsense.”

  “How do you know? How do you know she’s not telling the truth?”

  “She’s just trying to hurt you, babe,” Prescott said, drawing me away from the crowd that had gathered around us. “Don’t give her the power.”

  “Who’s trying to hurt who?” Miranda called after us. “Who was flirting with me the moment he hit town, huh? Who came in here and told me I had beautiful eyes before you even asked my name?”

  Prescott stiffened slightly, but he kept walking, pulling me out of the diner and into the parking lot where Johnny was organizing groups of searchers. I jerked my arm out of his grip, walking as far ahead of him as I could get as I joined one of the groups. Prescott didn’t try to speak to me, didn’t try to defend himself. He silently stood at my side until instructions were given and our group began to move out.

  “We need to talk,” he said as we marched into a grove of trees behind the diner, our intention to work our way back toward the center of town. I didn’t think my great-gran might have made it out this far, but others were searching closer to the house. I was okay not being in one of those groups now that the idea that she might not be alive had been put into my head.

  “Skylar, please.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t really want to deal with you and your drama right now, Prescott. I just want to concentrate on finding my great-gran.”

  He grabbed my arm and I tried to pull away again, but he held tighter, drawing me back against a tree as the rest of the group continued on into the woods.

  “Listen to me. I don’t think this is all just a coincidence.”

  “What? Miranda?”

  “No. The lawyer and your great-gran. I think someone has been drugging her with the intention of making her appear incompetent.”

  “Who? What are you talking about?”

  “Your great-gran. I think someone’s been drugging her.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  It was unbelievable, this accusation coming from Prescott on the heels of everything else. The only people who could have access to Great-Gran’s pills were people she considered her family. Johnny and Hannah and Zander. And that wasn’t possible.

  “I think someone was trying to manipulate her in some way, maybe trying to get her to change her will.”

  “Why?”

  “You heard Miranda back there. They don’t think you deserve to inherit her money.”

  I shook my head. “If someone was coming after my great-gran, their reasons would have to be bigger than money. She gives millions to this community every year! This town exists because of the businesses she ran with her husband and because of the money she’s given to the charities that benefit these people. And they all know it!”

  “It only takes one person to be resentful, one person to decide that things need to change.”

  I shook my head. “I think you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

  He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and held it up for me to look at. “Cheryl had someone identify the pills in her study. This one is a street drug that causes lethargy and confusion. Doesn’t that sound familiar? Wouldn’t that explain why she was so weak when we arrived, but then she suddenly perked up?”

  I took the phone and scrolled through the report he’d presented. He was right about the way my great-gran had been behaving, but… who would give her a street drug? Who would even know where to get this drug?

  “Doesn’t it seem odd that your great-gran’s lawyer would suddenly die right before you were supposed to meet with her? And then she disappears, just walked out of the house and vanished? Does any of it make sense to you?”

  “But why would they do this? The only people who have access to her medications are people she considers family.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “And then they must have stopped giving it to her when we arrived. Why would they do that?”

  “Because your visit was unannounced.”

  “You think I interrupted something?”

  “I think maybe your arrival presented a new strategy.”

  “Then what’s the point of all this, huh, Prescott? Why are they doing this?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. But I think if we can figure out who put those pills in her supply, we’ll know what the motive is.”

  “That’s nice and simple, isn’t it? But how do you plan on unmasking this mysterious person?”

  He pulled my hand, the one holding his phone, into his hand and pressed a couple of buttons. A second later, the sound of two male voices fill
ed the space between us. I recognized the detective’s slow, monotonous tone immediately, but it took me a second to recognize Zander’s voice.

  “What is this?”

  “I’ve cloned the detective’s phone. We’ll be able to listen to all the interviews he conducted at the house.”

  “Prescott—”

  “You want to know what’s going on? This is one of the ways we’re going to find out.”

  I wanted to argue with him. It was unethical, what he’d done. But if something nefarious was going on in my great-gran’s house, I needed to know. I needed to know where she was, and I needed to be able to keep her safe.

  “Thank you,” I said softly, pressing a hand to the center of his chest. “I appreciate you trying to help me.”

  He touched my hand, pressing it harder against him. I thought he was about to say something, but Johnny suddenly appeared behind him.

  “We should get going before the sun goes down,” Johnny announced.

  Prescott glanced back at him. “Sure,” he said, sliding his fingers between mine as he moved to hold my hand. “Let’s go look.”

  He stayed with me as we searched the woods, holding my hand and guiding me to areas no one else had yet to check. No one really talked, just kept their heads down and their eyes open. I’d never been part of a search party before. I didn’t want to ever do it again.

  Chapter 16

  Prescott

  “I saw her early this morning. She woke at dawn, like she always does, and asked me to help her dress, which I did. Then I left her in the sunroom, just like I told everyone else!”

  “Did you give her any medications? Feed her any food?”

  “She had her regular breakfast—several slices of bacon and a scrambled egg. Hannah made it for her.”

  “Anything else?”

  “No. Most of her meds need to be taken on a full stomach, so I usually wait until lunch to give them to her.”

  I switched off the recording, removing the earbuds from my ears. Nolan was more animated in his interview with the detective than I ever remembered hearing him, but he was consistent in his story. I’d listened to this three times and came away each time with the same opinion: Nolan wasn’t our criminal.